Quarless, Havner aim to produce at tight end

~Green Bay — There’s little question that the Green Bay Packers have gone from feast to famine at the tight end position.

In their first four games, the ultra-talented Jermichael Finley caught 21 passes for 301 yards and a touchdown. Following his season-ending injury early in the Washington game Oct. 10, the remaining tight ends have combined for 14 catches for 168 yards and two touchdowns.

Not really: Green Bay Packers tight end Andrew Quarless catches a nine-yard touchdown pass in front of Minnesota Vikings' Tyrell Johnson (25) and E.J. Henderson (56) during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Oct. 24, 2010, in Green Bay, Wis.

Of the group, rookie Andrew Quarless has shown the most ability in the passing game, but a shoulder injury knocked him out against the New York Jets and forced him to miss the Dallas game. In the meantime, the Packers brought back an old friend in Spencer Havner, who had five touchdown catches among his 21 receptions last year and averaged 14.2 yards per reception.

Quarless practiced in pads Thursday for the first time in three weeks and reported that his shoulder felt good. He’s going to be first in line to return the tight end position to respectability.

“He looked good today,” tight ends coach Ben McAdoo said. “He did quite a bit of our stuff. Did some ‘look (team)’ stuff. He got some blocking in. We’ll see how he feels. I think he’s chomping at the bit. He wants to get out there. He was coming along quite nicely before the injury.”

If Quarless can play, it will allow coach Mike McCarthy another option at receiver because the rookie can play in the slot and out wide. If he can’t, he might have a problem because there’s a chance Havner won’t be active this Sunday.

He was signed this week after missing more than a month with a severe hamstring pull and he’s working to get back into football shape.

“Spencer hasn’t played in a few weeks,” McCarthy said. “You can see his conditioning has picked up throughout the week. But he has a very good understanding of what we do on offense. He’s not having any issues mentally, and even more so on special teams. I’d be comfortable playing with Spencer.”

"Spencer is a savvy guy," McAdoo said. "He adds some confidence. He adds some playmaking ability. He has a good feel for what's going on on the defensive side of the ball obviously, so he has a niche for making plays. "He has soft hands, catches the ball pretty clean and makes things happen after the catch."

That doesn’t mean he will risk putting him out there if he thinks he needs another week of conditioning, although his pass-catching talents are needed. McAdoo said Havner, a former linebacker, brings a skill set to the Packers that they can definitely use.